2
10 Comments

How can I make Ponder more sticky?

Hi everyone! After posting Ponder (https://ponder.chat -- all your scattered thoughts in a searchable timeline) on IndieHackers 2 months ago, I've made a number of improvements to clean up the UI and add obvious functionality (like editing and deleting messages).

I just launched

  1. 1

    Rosie has a great point - changing habits, especially deeply rooted work flow habits, is inherently challenging. I have found myself sending emails to self in order to document and time stamp certain ideas, but all in all more conventional note taking apps and Dropbox Paper does the trick in my own workflow.

    How about encouraging people upfront to integrate into their work environment, e.g. prompt to make a bookmark or pinned tab? Or send out regular email digests on a certain cadence..? For me the ideal interface for something like this would be within slack

    1. 1

      Thanks Jules! I like the idea of actively encouraging more integration. I'm hoping that releasing an iOS/Android app will help in terms of ease of re-opening, potentially more so than a pinned tab.

      I want to send some form of email reminder that somehow doesn't piss people off.

      I've also thought about seeding a new registered account with example hashtags like #shopping and #people and #bookmarks and such, but I'm just not yet sure what sorts of tags people will actually want to be using. More user testing needed there, I suppose!

      Integrating with Slack would be interesting. I also want to give users an @ponder.chat email address to be able to email directly into their Ponder spaces. That said, I'm not sure that my ideal user is the kind of power user who will take advantage of these integrations; power users already have so many options when it comes to notes and snippets, and might not want or appreciate the simplicity that Ponder aims to offer.

  2. 1

    There are so many note taking apps and I think getting people to develop the habit of posting is the biggest challenge.

    How can you encourage people to keep coming back?

    I personally like the idea of it to jot down random stuff and just quickly hashtag it. I can see myself using it, if I can develop that habit of posting to it. I can then go back to it and add stuff back into where I write stuff (Notion) when it is relevant. I love Notion, but I find it also gets messy quickly if lots of random ideas/notes that I never end up checking.

    I'd love the ability to add photos - sometimes notes come in those formats.

    1. 1

      Thanks Rosie! I like your idea of it being potentially complementary to something like Notion, to avoid cluttering full-on notes.

      Images is on the to-do list :)

  3. 1

    Can you articulate why I should use Ponder? As it stands, it's not clear why I'd use it instead of Notes, Evernote, or the many other note-taking apps that exist.

    I also think your front page could use some design love (after you've figured out and can better message why I should use Ponder instead).

    Just giving my honest feedback. People are forgetting because habits take a while to form. Are you following up with them? Have you tried to understand why they signed up but didn't come back?

    1. 1

      Thanks for the honest feedback! My hypothesis is that most note-taking apps aren't a perfect fit for those who just want to dump tiny, disorganized thoughts and ideas somewhere. When I use Evernote, I never know which note to edit or whether to start a new one. I often don't want to worry about a title, even if it's optional. Before I started using Ponder, I would just email myself these things. I don't appear to be the only one with this problem.

      If you have any thoughts on how I can more clearly message that, and/or what kind of design love the front page needs, I'd love to hear!

      1. 2

        Say exactly that, your use case. If there are people like you, it will resonate.

        Find most note-taking apps too complicated?

        Ponder gets out of your way and lets you brain dump.

        something like that...

        Try to copy front page design of some websites you like. Keep it simple so i can still start note taking from the page I land on, but de-clutter it.

      2. 1

        I agree. Evernote feels like a high barrier to entry - I have to figure out how to organize what I'm writing. When I saw ponder, I immediately wanted to start writing - well done!

        What about a simple electron app? Something in on my toolbar I could quickly click on to channel a note into my ponder...pool?

        1. 1

          Thanks! An Electron app is definitely on my list!

Trending on Indie Hackers
How I grew a side project to 100k Unique Visitors in 7 days with 0 audience 49 comments Competing with Product Hunt: a month later 33 comments Why do you hate marketing? 28 comments My Top 20 Free Tools That I Use Everyday as an Indie Hacker 14 comments $15k revenues in <4 months as a solopreneur 14 comments Use Your Product 13 comments